While the Chicago Blackhawks (salary cap purging), Detroit Red Wings (simply re-gaining Jiri Hudler) and St. Louis Blues (adding Halak) made waves in the Central division this summer, it’s been disappointing to see GM Scott Howson and the Columbus Blue Jackets stand pat. It’s often the sign of a cash-strapped club to do just that, so reports of the team’s hopes of bandaging its financial wounds with casino money might explain why the team isn’t making many moves.

Still, you have to spent money to make money (and wins) in the NHL and the Blue Jackets might find themselves in a perilous position when it comes to their already anemic powerplay. If the team finds Anton Stralman’s salary arbitration finding too rich for their tastes, they might be in a bit of a puck pickle according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.

Imagine if Kaberle and Bieksa are traded in the next few days, and then Stralman is awarded $2.5 million (or more) in arbitration. Enjoy Rostislav Klesla on the power play, Blue Jackets’ fans. At that point, the Blue Jackets may be forced to go in a direction they’d rather avoid — perhaps a play for Edmonton’s Sheldon Souray or a free agent a crack at, say, Marc-Andre Bergeron.

What would the Blue Jackets part with to acquire Bieksa or Kaberle? Compelling question. Both Vancouver and Toronto have too many defensemen — hence the trade — and neither team needs a goaltender.

It was surmised in this space a week or so ago that left winger Nikita Filatov could be dangled as bait. We still believe — from talking to numerous sources — that it’s a possibility. However, the Blue Jackets have strengthened their confidence in Filatov ever since development coach Tyler Wright traveled to Russia.

If I’m a Blue Jackets fan, I’m pulling for Kevin Bieksa rather than Sheldon Souray. Both players are injury-prone and have their faults, but Bieksa is about five years younger, a bit cheaper and has a bit less baggage. Don’t forget that Souray is already sulking in a losing environment in Edmonton. Why would he want to be a part of another struggling franchise?

Either way, I’m not sure if it’s time to pull the plug on Nikita Filatov. While it’s just as likely that Filatov could be Nikolai Zherdev 2.0, the team is still pretty short on high-end scoring wingers. If he could get his head on straight, Filatov would bring a unique blend of flashy skills to the table.

Salary arbitration should bring intriguing – and sometimes quite intense – stories to the table. Watching these situations play out is a lot like rubbernecking to witness the fallout of a highway accident; you feel a little dirty for doing it but it’s tough to look away from the wreckage. Could a bit player such as Stralman make a big impact on the Blue Jackets’ off-season plans? We’ll just have to wait and see.

The New York Islanders made a splash on Friday, signing veteran forward Cal Clutterbuck to a five-year, $17.5 million extension — one that carries a $3.5 million average annual cap hit through 2023.

Clutterbuck, 29, has two goals and nine points through 25 games this year, while averaging 15:26 TOI per night (his highest average since joining the Isles four years ago). As per usual, he leads the club in hits — one of the staples of his game — and serves as one of the club’s alternate captains.

This new contract represents a nice raise for the former Minnesota Wild man. His last contract, set to expire in July, was of the four-year, $11 million variety, and carried a $2.75 million cap hit.

This contract also resembles the one GM Garth Snow gave another of the club’s role forwards. This summer, Casey Cizikas signed a five-year, $16.75 million extension — one with a $3.35 million hit — despite the fact he’d never scored more than 30 points in a season, or averaged more than 14 minutes of ice time.

This style of spending — along with splashes made for free agent disappointments Jason Chimera and Andrew Ladd — is sure to raise some questions. The Isles opted not to spend that money on retaining two of their key players from a season ago, Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo, and the club has struggled to find its form through the first quarter of this year.

“We’re not going to give out any numbers now,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said yesterday, per Yahoo Sports. “The cap could range from where it is now to a couple or so million up, but we’re all going to have to focus on what makes the most sense moving forward.”

The salary cap only went up slightly for the current season, from $71.4 million to $73 million. The only slight increase was due to the lower Canadian dollar, which negatively impacted last season’s league revenues by “$100 or 200 million,” Bettman said earlier this year.

The loonie has been holding relatively steady for around half a year. It’s currently worth $0.76 USD and has been helped by the recent oil rally.

A flat salary cap would be bad news for big spenders like the Chicago Blackhawks, who still need to get Artemi Panarin signed to an extension. The Los Angeles Kings could also be forced to make some tough decisions, as they’ve got Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson in need of new deals. Ditto for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have key RFAs in Brian Dumoulin, Justin Schultz, and Conor Sheary.

Henrik Lundqvist has set such a high bar that his 12-8-1 record with a .912 save percentage is cause for great concern these days in New York.

That his backup, Antti Raanta, is 6-1-0 with a .932 save percentage only contributes to that concern, because if Raanta can manage those numbers, what’s Lundqvist’s excuse?

“I feel like I’m tracking the puck well, moving well,” Lundqvist told the Daily News. “It just comes down to some bad decisions at times that cost me.”

Indeed, December has not started well for The King. He’s allowed 10 goals in three starts for a save percentage of .894. In Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders, his decision to poke check a loose puck led to the winning goal by Andrew Ladd.